The 4 Intuition Types and What They Mean

We all have the gift of intuition. As human beings, we have extrasensory abilities; however, some of us are more developed than others.

There are different ways of experiencing your intuition (the intuition types). You may feel things, see things, simply know things, or smell or taste things. These are known as the Clairs – Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Clairsentience, and Claircognizance being the main four.

We’re going to dive into what each of these mean and some tips on how to develop and work with these abilities. There are two other clairs that I won’t be diving into, but still want to mention: Clairgustiness (clear tasting) and Clairalience (clear smelling).

Beginning Your Intuition Development

Apart from the clairs, there are other intuition types and extrasensory abilities that you can develop. Everyone seems to have one or two extrasensory abilities that are stronger than the other ones. If you can identify which of your extrasensory (or intuitive) abilities are more predominant, then that’s where you can start to harness your gifts and abilities, and focus on one or two of the corresponding clairs to help you develop your intuition.

Once you start to develop those one or two more predominant gifts, the other gifts will start to come in and work together with your intuition. Think about strengthening your intuition like turning the dial on a radio, and hearing static until you finally get the right station, then you hear a very clear channel. Intuition is like becoming a clear channel for your true voice / your soul / your highest self to come through and communicate with you alongside your intelligence, thoughts, emotions, and physical body.

Strengthening intuition and bringing all of the senses together, will develop your energetic sense of soul / your soul / your higher consciousness and bring that down to combine with your human consciousness.

Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance is clear seeing. “Clair” means clear. “Voyance” refers to seeing. This is the intuition type that gets thrown around the most in the intuitive psychic world.

When you are clairvoyant, you have the strong gift of receiving visions of things. You may see something out of the corner of your eye or a flash or insight that comes through as an image. You may see a person, object, place, or experience in your mind’s eye, almost like a movie.

Typically, this intuition type is more developed for people who are highly imaginative. The people who, when you give them a guided visualization or tell them something, can see it in their mind’s eye. The mind’s eye simply refers to the third eye, which is about psychic abilities, intuition, and (because it’s an eye) seeing. If you are a very imaginative, fanciful, and creative person who can picture an image and have it come to life in your mind (like a movie screen) – that’s clairvoyance.

If you have the gift of clairvoyance, you gain insight by seeing something in your mind and it appearing/looking very real. It may be precognitive, meaning something that hasn’t happened yet, or it could be giving you insight into something you may need to be looking for. It could also be a memory that may be referring to something.

Clairvoyance is most easily developed by taking time and meditating. Listening to guided visualizations and meditations where you are encouraged to use your mind’s eye (your imagination) to really see things and bring things to life in your mind. These types of guided meditations will help you connect with this gift.

Communicate Your Insight

Most importantly, when you are experiencing life and you have a flash or insight, the biggest thing I always tell people is to not be afraid to communicate it! This goes for any of the clairs. Be present to recognize it first, and then be open and willing to communicate to someone whatever insights come through. Be sure to communicate this with someone who is safe, open, receptive to your gift, and close to you so that you feel really comfortable because the sharing of this information is the gateway to more.

Your ability and openness to be courageous and share what you’re seeing will help you in continuing that dialogue. Intuition and psychic abilities are like a dialogue with your higher self / your soul / your higher consciousness.

Clairaudience

Clairaudience is clear hearing. “Clair” means clear. “Audience” refers to hearing. This intuition type allows you to clearly hear messages with intuitive psychic insights in your mind. With clairaudience, you can clearly hear an outside voice in your mind telling you something. It could be related to something going on in your life, giving you guidance, wisdom, or foreshadowing something, helping you in a precognitive aspect so that you know what might be coming next.

Clairaudience is also about overhearing. For example, maybe you’ve been thinking about buying a new purse, and this has been on your mind for a while now. You go to the grocery store, do your shopping, and are in line to check out when you overhear the woman behind you talking to her friend about the new purse that she’s carrying. So is that a synchronicity? Absolutely. But it’s also a way of utilizing clairaudience.

Clairaudience is not only about listening to the energetic, higher-consciousness voices that come through to guide you, but it’s also about simply listening. Using your ears in day-to-day life to pick up on messages and psychic information that is coming from the real world.

Have you ever heard a song on the radio that gave you the exact message you needed? Or maybe you’re talking to a friend, and they say exactly what you needed to hear? That’s clairaudience.

Yes, clairaudience is about listening and opening your ears in the real world, but also remembering to tune your radio station so you can connect with messages from your guides / your angels / your higher consciousness / your soul / your higher self.

Clairsentience

Clairsentience is clear feeling. “Clair” means clear. “Sentience” refers to feeling. This intuition type is also intertwined with empaths or empathic people. Remember, we all have these gifts and are typically deep feelers, but some of us feel things at such levels that there is a wisdom or knowing accompanying the feeling or sensation.

Clairsentience is an ability for spirit / your soul / your higher consciousness to communicate with you through emotional or physical feelings. Oftentimes for me, when I am doing a reading or mediumship, souls and spirits will connect with me through my physical body or feeling to show me how they passed away. So if someone had a heart attack, I may physically feel something in my heart if I’m not noticing they’re around – that’s one way for them to quickly get my attention. It can also be an emotional feeling. I’ll feel emotions coming up – sadness, sorrow, happiness, joy, laughter, etc.

Laughter comes through so often for me when I am doing my mediumship work, but also when I am channeling and being a vessel for someone’s higher self. Their soul laughter comes through easily because it’s expansive and uplifting. The soul usually wants people to know the joy and inspiring energies that comes through.

There are some people who have very strong clairsentience. These people can walk into a room and either feel the happiness or the heaviness. It is imperative for all of us to feel the energy in the room, but clairsentience people pick up on so much extrasensory energy through their physical body and emotions that it can be draining. Thus, it is important to clear that energy (for all of us to be in touch with our own intuition more clearly). It can be hard for someone who is clarisentient to get in touch with what they feel because they’re picking up on everyone else’s emotions.

Of course, in any relationship, we exchange energy, but clairsentience people really pick up others’ energy so often that it can lead to a heaviness or depression, and it may not even be their stuff to carry. So as a clairsentient, it’s important to notice your feelings and ask yourself, “Are these really my feelings or am I picking this up from someone else?”

Claircognizance

Claircognizance is clear knowing. “Clair” means clear. “Cognizance” refers to knowing. This is the most elusive of the clairs and happens to be my strongest gift.

Claircognizance can be confusing to interpret because, with this gift, you just know things. You’ll receive internal downloads of information, without asking for it, and you just understand things, as if you’ve known them all along. This intuition type is about simply gaining insight and knowledge, psychic and spiritual impressions, as they come through. You don’t hear a voice, it’s more of a knowing or impression deep within, almost like you’re interpreting a different language that is not known to humans.

With this gift, it takes tremendous faith and courage to be able to communicate the messages that are coming through because it can almost feel like: “How do I know this stuff? Why do I just know? Why do I know this person is really in need of a dog because they need that kind of unconditional love and companionship?” That said, it’s important to express your knowledge with other people, especially when you’re beginning to develop your intuition. Being brave enough to communicate your insights with someone who is comfortable, safe, and familiar to you will help you strengthen your abilities, help you gain confidence, faith, and trust in your voice.

Ask Permission

While it’s key to practice and communicate with people close to you, it’s also imperative to ask for permission. If you’re talking to a friend and receive an impression with some insight or knowledge, ask your friend if they’d like to receive the knowledge.

Be willing to say, “Hey, I have this gift, I’ve been working on it, and I’m getting some information. Would you like to hear it?”

Some people may say no, and then it’s your job, your opportunity in your highest integrity and ethics to say, “Okay, no big deal.” If someone says no, then you’re not supposed to share that information at this time. You hold that sacred and you maintain the trust and respect of that other person.

As you become more advanced in your gift, not only should you ask permission of the person you would be sharing the information with, but you should also ask the impression itself. Whether it’s an image (Clairvoyance), something you hear (Clairaudience), something you feel (Clairsentience), or something you just know (Claircognizance), ask what is coming through. Ask what you are seeing, hearing, feeling, or knowing, “Am I allowed to share this information?”

This is a little difficult and more advanced, but very important. Trusting yourself to go “above the wisdom” and the energy of the spirit that is coming through to you, and to connect with source / God / the highest version of whatever you believe in, and asking permission is in the highest integrity or ethical mediumship/intuitive communication. Once you ask the question (aloud or in your mind’s eye), you should/will immediately get an impression of yes or no, and that’s what you trust.

If the answer is no, it’s not your place to say anything at that time or possibly ever. You must have the integrity to recognize whatever this information is, you’re not supposed to share it now. If the answer is yes, then you practice having the courage, openness, and willingness to ask the person’s permission to share, and respect their wishes simultaneously.

Developing your intuition, your psychic and extrasensory gifts and abilities can be fun and exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. So it’s important to make sure you ground, clear your energy often, incorporate healthy exercise, and eat good food to take care of your vessel, your body, your mind, your emotional self, and your spirit. We are all talented individuals who are here to grow, evolve, and learn, and our extrasensory abilities are a huge part of that.

If you’re dedicated to developing your intuition and connecting with your higher self, then check out my 18-Day Meditation Dedication! This 18-day journey is designed to support you in meditatively dedicating your energy to strengthening and harnessing your point of attraction. It can help you find a greater sense of peace & ease in your day, help heal anxiety, depression, an overactive mind, fear, physical pain, and so much more. What are you waiting for? Enhance your intuition, expand your joy, and find sustainable clarity.